Petaluma SWAT team arrests three men suspected of robbery and assault

The Petaluma SWAT team, protected behind an armored vehicle, Wednesday made an uninvited visit to a historic home in the city’s west side to apprehend three men suspected of pistol-whipping and robbing a local man they knew twice earlier this month.

After shouting their arrival via microphone, police wearing tactical gear arrested Petaluma residents Bryan East Jr., 34, Troy Manessis, 22, and Mark Williams, 21, who were inside the ?145-year-old home on Howard Street, across from Liberty Park and St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Heritage District.

They were taken into custody without incident, Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons said. The three were booked into Sonoma County Jail, and each charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

The men are accused of forcing their way into a hotel room at Best Western Petaluma Inn on Jan. 9. They allegedly pistol-whipped a Petaluma man there and stole several items of clothing from him, including True Religion, Louis Vuitton and Air Jordan shoes, Lyons said.

The unidentified victim suffered a head injury and was transported to Petaluma Valley Hospital.

The next day, the same man reported to police the three suspects assaulted him again with a firearm, while he was sitting in his car a few blocks from their Howard Street residence. He sustained minor injuries in that encounter.

Investigators have not identified a motive for why the three men allegedly targeted the Petaluma man multiple times, other than they are “acquaintances,” Lyons said. Police also are investigating a possible third incident between the victim and the three suspects.

After the SWAT officers arrived Wednesday at ?9 a.m. with a search warrant and then arrested the three men, police found clothing, ammunition and additional evidence connecting the three men with the alleged crimes, Lyons said.

Eight people were in the Howard Street home when authorities came, and Lyons said police are getting witness statements from them as part of the investigation.

Since a gun was used in both alleged assaults, police opted to use negotiation techniques rather than a tactical operation to take the three men into custody, he said. A portion of the street outside the property was closed to traffic for about 45 minutes.

“The challenges were you have a high school five blocks away, a church across the street, City Hall across the street,” Lyons said. “There’s a lot of planning that goes into it. Today it was successful. No one was hurt, we all made it to work and there was no complaints (from nearby residents).”

Petaluma building and code enforcement officials also declared three buildings on the Howard Street property uninhabitable, police said.

Two old barns were “bound to collapse at any moment,” code enforcement Officer Joe Garcia said. The third building was a partially remodeled accessory dwelling unit the residents had not gotten permission from the city to live in. The plumbing and electrical inside the dwelling were not up to code, and there was no heat, Garcia said. The lone occupant will have to evacate the unit.

“It was not a good place for the person in there to be living or sleeping,” Garcia said.